Amara West 2012: wind stops play

Neal Spencer, British Museum

‘Wednesday February 1st. Before breakfast, a mighty wind arose ….’

Ancient houses, and our sieves - all that remained on site after wind forced us to stop work

This excerpt from Mary Shepperson’s excavation diary only hints at the howling northerly wind that forced us to stop work on site at 11.00am yesterday. Besides reducing visibility, sand was pouring into rooms as we excavated them, and recording was impossible due to flapping tapes and the sail-like properties of drawing boards.

We stopped work, huddled by the river awaiting our boat, and during the ride home could not see the other bank of the Nile.

I visited the Amara site on 2nd February. Our guide was Murtada (Sudanese archeologist Director of Napata Museum in Jebel Barkal). I want to thank you for your guiding on the site
and allowing us to be there and understand your research on Amara site.